About Wild Bird Eggs

Function

• Wild bird eggs are the birds' way of reproducing. In spite of a wide variety of shapes and colors, the eggs are designed to provide the most camouflage possible, helping to protect the eggs and nest from predators. The layers of the egg are maximized to keep the unborn bird at the correct temperature.
  Wild bird eggs have also been a food source for humans for thousands of years.

Features

• The developing baby bird is protected by a number of layers of the egg. The outermost layer is the eggshell, the part of the egg that has the distinctive and identifiable colors. In addition, the eggshell is porous, allowing air to reach the developing baby.
  The next layers are an inner and outer membrane that surround the liquid that the bird rests in, called the albumen. The albumen, made of protein and water, provides nutrition to the developing bird. The egg yolk is about 33 percent of the weight of the egg and contains most of the egg's fat content. The yolk--which surrounds the seed of the egg that develops into the bird--provides most of the nutritional protein content. The egg yolk also contains antibodies that help protect the bird from disease and illness after it hatches.

History

• Eggs have been a popular food source since approximately 6000 B.C., when it is thought that eggs were first made a regular part of the menu in China. In the time of ancient Egypt, ancient tomb paintings dating to around1420 B.C. show drawings of bird eggs being offered in homage to the Egyptian gods. Eggs retained their popularity through the Roman empire, when most meals began with a course of eggs. Eggs were, however, banned during Lent in the Middle Ages.
  With the advent of refrigeration, the use of eggs as food was changed forever. While today most eggs come from domesticated chickens, throughout history the eggs of countless species of birds have been used for food, including ostriches and ducks. During the Anglo-Saxon era, people went to great lengths to get the eggs of the guillemot, scaling high, sheer cliffs and risking the rage of protective guillemot parents.

Types

• There is a wide variety of shapes and sizes of bird eggs. Despite all of the features they have in common, it's possible to identify the type of bird the nests belong to by looking at the eggs.
  Guillemot eggs are unique in that they are conical, to help ensure that the eggs don't roll off their precarious nests. The speckled pattern of guillemot eggs are all unique; it's thought that this is so the mother bird can recognize her own eggs in the crowded nesting areas.
  The eggs of the western bluebird are a pale blue, about the size of a dime. There are a few eggs that are perfectly round. These are the eggs of an owl or a woodpecker.

Size

• The smallest egg belongs to the bee hummingbird. As an adult, the bee hummingbird is only about 2 inches long. The nests that the bee hummingbird builds is only an inch wide, and each egg laid weighs only about 1/2 g.
  The ostrich, in addition to being the world's largest bird, is also responsible for laying the world's largest egg. Ostriches in a single community will all lay their eggs in a communal nest, which can contain up to 60 eggs. Each egg weighs about 3 pounds.